


save me from this black abyss

by o0JayWolf0o



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Crying, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Highblood Rages, Hurt/Comfort, Incipisphere, Insomnia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mythological Alignments, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Quadrant Blurring, Time Shenanigans, Troll Anatomy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 18:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12326571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/o0JayWolf0o/pseuds/o0JayWolf0o
Summary: Dave needs a bit of help with something he's never dealt with before - crying.





	save me from this black abyss

**Author's Note:**

> so im not sure why i wrote this i just wanted to   
>  enjoy ig

It was a bit late.

Of course, ‘late’ wouldn’t really be an accurate term to describe the time period Karkat was in. He was hurtling through space toward an unknown location on a rock that had somehow crafted buildings on itself. They weren’t in the incipisphere, of course, so there  _ was _ time, but, well, while everyone was playing the game their internal and palmhusk clocks had royally fucked up. Combined with the fact that trolls were nocturnal and humans were not, everyone had eventually just synced their sleeping schedule up and called it that. There were no timeframes - even Dave had shrugged when asked what time it was. Of course, he still had a habit of knowing exactly how long some things were, but he tried to avoid it.

So, to restate his earlier statement, Karkat would say that by now everyone should be asleep.

Karkat, though.. Karkat did not sleep. Of course, when he was moirails with Gamzee and had to crawl through musty, old vents (his elbows and knees would ache for hours afterward and he’d wonder how Gamzee lived through it), he often fell asleep with arms wrapped around his torso and a clown breathing heavily on his shoulder. Those days were now over - Gamzee had become distant before attacking Karkat, and, in the year since, Karkat had no longer seen him (aside from him black-flirting with Terezi - she was never interested in the juggalo anyway).

Karkat was currently in his respiteblock, dressed only in black boxers, and was just about to crawl in the ol’ pile when he noticed one of his romance novels open. He hadn’t left it that way. The pages fluttered slightly, as if to taunt him. Quietly, the troll stepped over various objects and examined the page that was open. Upon flipping, he seethed at a small, red penis drawn in the corner. Dammit, Dave.

Karkat’s relationship with Dave was surely something. At first, Karkat had had a pretty big black crush on him and regularly challenged the human to strifes. It was perfect - Dave was, quite literally, the best kismesis Karkat should ever have. But, alas, when asked about it, Dave had declined and said he ‘didn’t do that foursquare shit’. Karkat had rebutted by telling him that he had currently been matesprits with Terezi, but the boy had ignored him.

It’s been awhile since Karkat felt any black leanings for the Knight, though. It’s also been a while since Dave has been with Terezi without it being awkward. The Cancer thought that, perhaps, they had broken up, but he dared not ask. 

More recently, Karkat had felt more red toward Dave. It was so damn  _ frustrating, _ though - all these quadrant-y feelings. As aforementioned, Karkat has felt black toward Dave. He also, though, has auspicitized between he and Gamzee, but that was broken off almost immediately by all three parties. Now, when Dave fell asleep through one of Karkat’s romcoms (something he rarely did now), Karkat felt pale for him and had to resist the urge to pap his soft cheeks. When they hung out, all he’d want to do was cuddle him or, in more recent cases, kiss him. With these feelings came realizations, though.

Dave would probably never feel that way. Ever. It was basically out of the question for him. Many, many times, Dave had asked about Karkat’s culture. ‘Why do they all wear their blood colors’, ‘Why do they chitter like that’, and, Karkat’s favorite, ‘Why are they eating bugs - what the fuck’. Dave was always confused the most when two men fell in love. When asked why, Dave had shrugged. “It’s kind of taboo to like the same gender - be gay - on earth,” he’d said. 

“What about Rose and Kanaya?” The two females had become a bit too friendly over the period of time everyone spend on the meteor - about 2 years now - and if you were lucky enough, you’d walk in on one hell of a makeout.

Dave had shrugged. “They’re okay. Still taboo for Earth, but I don’t really care about it. I’m okay with guys being with guys, or girls with girls, I guess, it’s just that  _ I’m _ not gay.” Karkat’s hopes with Dave had washed down the drain. He’d fallen hopelessly in pity with the Time player.

Dave had also recently been avoiding Karkat. Making excuses when he walked into a room or saying that he “had things to do” when asked to watch a romcom.

So, truly, it’s a surprise when, just before Karkat steps into his pile to think, a single knock hits the door.

Karkat had studied the knocks people used when entering his room. Vriska knocked eight times, Terezi whacked the door with her cane, Rose knocked twice, and Kanaya knocked three times. Gamzee never entered his room and the Mayor knocked five or four times, changing depending on his mood.

Dave knocked once.

Karkat’s floppy ears raised for a moment and a flicker of surprise passed over his face. He set his expression to a deep frown before sauntering over to the door. True, he was excited to finally see Dave, but why couldn’t he have come at a normal hour?

He yanked his heavy, metal door open and opened his mouth to scream an insult at Dave, but the words died in his throat as soon as he saw the boy’s expression. He was trembling, that much was clear. His face was flushed red and faint, barely visible streaks of liquid coated his cheeks below his askew shades.

Karkat had never, once, at all, seen Dave cry. Not here on the meteor or even anywhere on the timeline - and he had looked. He’d looked for a  _ long _ time. The only time he  _ had _ cried had been of onions or laughter, and that in it of itself was extremely rare.

His face, usually bold, snarky, and admittedly charming, was set unsure and uncomfortable. He seemed to hesitate when he saw Karkat, snot running down his face as he hiccupped.

“Dave… What happened?” Karkat asked, voice softer than he’d meant it to be as he looked down at Dave. In comparison, Dave as pretty short. He looked away, hiccupping again, before shrugging. “Do you.. wanna talk about it?” Dave shook his head instantly. Well, there goes his plan to seduce him into the pale quadrant.

Before Karkat could ask much more, Dave sniffled and wrapped his arms around Karkat. The troll was, understandably, shocked. Dave was  _ not _ big on physical contact and usually shied away from a shoulder touch or even just standing too close to Karkat. After a few bloodpusher-beats of nothing, Karkat returned the embrace, pulling Dave into his room. They kept tripping over each other’s feet, and Karkat had trouble closing the door, but eventually he brought them both into his pile. Dave buried his head in Karkat’s chest. This was really pale. Fuck.

A bit of time passed this way. Perhaps Dave would know, him being a Time hero and all, if he were not currently bawling his eyes out for the first time since he was - well, he should say born, but he really  _ wasn’t _ born. Karkat couldn’t do much aside from repress his pale instincts and simply hope he wouldn’t do anything dumb.

When Dave had finally stopped trembling - had finally stopped gripping Karkat like he’d die if he didn’t - he looked up, blazing red eyes uncovered from when he’d taken his shades off. “‘M sorry,” he rasped, his throat rough. “That was really lame of me. I- I should probably,” he trailed off. Karkat grimaced.

“Dave, I don’t fucking  _ care _ how ‘uncool’ that was of you. I don’t even think you’re cool in the first place - if you’re fucking crying and can’t even  _ speak one word  _ you are  _ not _ allowed to apologize. Ever.” Dave fell silent. “Come here,” Karkat murmured, his tone less aggressive and more soft.

He did the universal sign for ‘gimmie’ and Dave rolled back the way he was before, avoiding the big wet spot on Karkat’s black shirt. Said troll was irritated that he’d have to wash it, but he was mostly concerned. Again, Dave didn’t cry about just anything. In fact, he hadn’t cried when his father -  _ Bro, _ as Dave had insisted many times _ - _ died. Only mourned quietly.

More time passed. Eventually, the rhythmic breathing of Dave signalled that he had fallen asleep. Karkat let himself relax and a small smile crept up his face. Dave still looked really unattractive, what with the tear streaks still prominent on his skin and the snot that had been lazily wiped away long ago, but Karkat didn’t really care.

Karkat, with the thought of  _ wow, I just helped Dave  _ Strider _ of all people stop crying  _ and _ fall asleep, _ let himself fall into slumber at last. He hadn’t slept in the last week, and he was extremely tired. He, unexpectedly, slept dreamlessly, and didn’t wake in a dream bubble like he’d expected.

It was nice.

He liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated   
>  [ tumblr ](o0jaywolf0o.tumblr.com)


End file.
